Rad Martinez got the kind of mainstream media attention last year that most MMA fighters can only dream about and he wasn’t even part of a big organization.

The former NCAA Division I wrestler from Clarion University was featured on an ESPN “Outside the Lines” episode about his plight juggling an unorthodox profession and caring for his paraplegic father. Martinez gained instant notoriety from the piece and Bellator signed him soon after.

Many people were happy for him. Others were the opposite.

“There was a little bit of frustration,” Martinez said. “A lot of people looked at me as some kind of charity case. They thought, [Bellator] signed him because they think they can make some money off him – he’s really not that good.”

Proving those pundits wrong has been one of the main motivating factors for Martinez and he’s starting to turn some of them into believers. The 34-year-old Utah native is 3-0 in Bellator and, after victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Martinez meets Shahbulat Shamhalaev in the finals of Bellator’s season seven featherweight tournament Friday night at Caesars Atlantic City (MTV 2, 8 p.m.). A title shot against champion Pat Curran hangs in the balance.

“I think these first two wins have gone a long way to prove that to people,” Martinez said of his legitimacy as an MMA fighter. “I think winning [Friday] will prove even more naysayers wrong.”

Martinez knows what he has to do against Shamhalaev, a Russian knockout artist. He has to use the wrestling he honed as one of former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar’s college wrestling teammate at Clarion. Martinez beat Nazareno Malegarie and former WEC star Wagnney Fabiano by using his superior takedowns and grappling skills.

“I have to do what I do best, which is grind on the guy,” Martinez said. “He’s an excellent striker. He hits hard. He knocks people out.”

It was Edgar that suggested Martinez get into jiu-jitsu, which led to his MMA career. UI has been difficult because of his situation. Martinez is the primary caregiver to his father, who was reduced to a vegetative state after a 1991 car crash. Martinez’s mother died before the accident and his grandmother passed away of cancer shortly after it, leaving the onus on Martinez to take care of his dad.

During this featherweight tournament, which began in September, Martinez’s brother has taken time off his job in the medical field to tend to their father.

“He’s really stepped up and taken the reins,” Martinez said. “I’m gone almost the whole week [for training]. My brother has kind of put his job on the line to allow me to do this.”

Martinez admits the “Outside the Lines” feature “put me on the map in MMA.” But he doesn’t want it to define him. He doesn’t just want to be the fighter who takes care of his disabled father. Martinez wants to be a champion and throw it in all the critics’ faces. He’ll be thinking of them Friday night in Jersey.